Popular Articles on Business 2 Community

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• Three Trends Changing Social Media Marketing Strategies
• Use Hashtags More Effectively in Your Social Media Content: 4 Tactics
• Inbound Marketing Tips: Twitter 101, How to Use Hashtags
• Leveraging Backlinks and SEO Effectively
• SEO Simplified For Today’s Business Leader
• 5 Ways Raving Fans Can Help Increase Your B2B Blog Traffic

Three Trends Changing Social Media Marketing Strategies Posted: 23 Dec 2013 04:00 AM PST As more consumers access the Internet for their news, shopping and numerous other daily activities, social media has become a powerful player in many marketing strategies. This communication avenue allows you to broadcast your mission and goals to a broader audience, attracting potential clients. The art of social media marketing is constantly changing in order to create quality content that better reflects viewer ideals and interests. While this can make it a considerable challenge for companies to utilize the networking platforms, when they create an effective profile, they can begin realizing significant benefits. Here are a few of the biggest trends currently happening in social media marketing: 1. Marketing taking on Pulse traits Although LinkedIn isn’t traditionally known as a platform for intensive marketing, it’s acquisition of Pulse could change that. According to ClickZ, Pulse has enabled LinkedIn to achieve deeper social interactions by tailoring content to user needs, creating a more authentic content and native ad model. This type of approach will appeal directly to the viewer and better allow them to find the information they’re looking for without jumping through hoops to get it. This process is known as content nurturing, as it allows for better marketing automation that will deliver targeted campaigns to its customer segments. Using Google Analytics, you can easily determine how successful this approach is and what areas should be better optimized for increased profitability. 2. Always social One thing that many organizations underestimate is the concept of always on social media needs. According to a recent report by eMarketer, users will spend an average of 2 hours and 19 minutes online per day, more than a quarter of which is devoted to social networking. This is a significant span of time that businesses can leverage in order to reach their audience through the platforms. The development of social media use is also predicted to influence the increase of digital ad spending, more than 12 percent of which is expected to be devoted to social media by 2014. Companies must have devoted social media personnel on the site in order to create content, answer questions and interact with followers. This will promote a more engaging profile and help provide a positive brand experience. 3. Less management use Although many CEOs are gung-ho about social networking, not as many are actually setting up their own profiles. According to recent research by Augure, only 30 percent of CEOs are active on social media sites. This figure is surprising considering the amount of power they could hold when attempting to gather new users and maintain relationships. Although there may be some risks to using this platform, users can leverage if for additional benefits. As organizations gain more followers on social media, they may also need to invest in business phone solutions to handle the influx of calls. Here at Fonality, we offer comprehensive services that will help you deliver quality customer experience and keep up with the best communication technologies. To learn more about our services, contact a Fonality representative today!

Use Hashtags More Effectively in Your Social Media Content: 4 Tactics Posted: 22 Dec 2013 06:15 AM PST If the hashtag possessed the ability to feel, it would surely have an identity crisis. It's been mistaken for a number sign and a pound sign. It also bears an uncanny resemblance to the sharp sign in music, as well as a Chinese character that describes an ancient system of distributing land. Yes, life for this humble metadata tag would be mighty confusing. As it happens, hashtags can be confusing for content marketers, too. We know we need to use them, but what's the best approach? Facebook's recent decision to support hashtags (users were already able to include them in status updates, but they weren't clickable) has upped their cache in social media content. As an integral part of social and content marketing platforms like Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Tumblr, and Google+, hashtags represent an important means of digital marketing and communication. Here are some ways in which to leverage hashtags for more successful social media content campaigns: 1. Use them to categorize your brand's messages Hashtags originated as a way to define and assemble topics of conversation online so that users could track down posts related to a group or event they were interested in. They're still ideal for classifying content, whether posts apply to an upcoming conference your business is hosting or to the products offered by a school supplies manufacturer. When you upload social media content, use hashtags to further describe its purpose and the value it offers to its audience. For example, if your content relates to a topic like #kids, #fallfashion, #artprojects, or a #holidaysale, say so by including a hashtag. Delineating posts in this manner is particularly vital to promoting your brand content. You likely already include hashtags related to your products and brand, but have you considered using them to provide additional information about each piece of content? For example, Dairy Queen labels its Tumblr page posts with tags like #DairyQueen and #LoveMyDQ, but it also uses hashtags like #cake, #chocolate, and #pumpkinpie. By tagging menu item flavors, DQ better defines its branded photos, videos, and animated GIFs, making it easier for social media content consumers to find them. In addition, beauty brand TRESemmé takes a similar approach by supplementing its branded hashtags on Tumblr with tags like #cute, #beauty, #hairstyle, and #brunette. This helps users to better understand the nature of its visual content efforts, as well as what to expect from future posts. 2. Use them to extend the reach of your posts Hashtags are useful for defining content, but they can also extend the reach of your brand on the whole. Think of them as search marketing keywords, but with one differentiating feature: Unlike the keywords in your paid search campaign — most of which are built around highly specific, less common "long-tail" terms — most of the hashtags you use should already be popular. By employing tags that are frequently searched you'll greatly increase the odds that your content will be displayed and get shared. Burt's Bees drew attention to its recent #6SecondClassics branded videos by tweeting the clips along with hashtags specific to the campaign. But the brand also made sure to include a more popular tag — #classic — to broaden its reach. Ford Fiesta did the same on Instagram, supplementing the #FiestaMovement tag it uses on cross-country photos of the Ford Fiesta with more popular options like #travel, #florida, and #malibu. You can gauge the popularity of trending hashtags at Hashtags.org or by searching for potential candidates on Twitter itself. You'll also find a list of up-to-the-minute trending tags on Tumblr. 3. Use them to start a topic trend While most of the hashtags you include in your posts will already exist and serve the utilitarian purpose of getting your content found, hashtags can also afford an opportunity to showcase your brand's creativity. One strategy is for brands to appropriate existing hashtags and make them their own. Ben & Jerry's cleverly adopted several of Discovery Channel's "Shark Week" hashtags in an effort to capitalize on the attention generated by the week-long TV programming event. Existing tags like #megalodon, #SharkAfterDark, and #SharkWeek — a title that has long been part of the consumer lexicon — were used to attract attention to Ben & Jerry's shark-themed Twitter posts. One of its branded photos featured a bucket of Phish Food ice cream next to a fishing pole. Another showed a pint marred by a jagged bite mark. If you prefer, your brand can go the conceptual route, inventing hashtags with the hope that they'll take off. This has worked for brands like MTV, which coined the hashtag #FollowMeMTV as a twist on "Follow Friday" (#FF) — a Twitter custom in which users recommend other users to follow on the site. It has also been successful for HBO's "Game of Thrones," which whips fans into a frenzy with unique tags like #SunandStars. The short-lived term of endearment used by two characters in the show seems obscure, but die-hard viewers understand its meaning, and these are the consumers you can most rely on to advocate and share content from your brand online. 4. Above all, use them wisely, and sparingly This may sound counterintuitive, but as useful as incorporating hashtags can be, it's also possible to overdo it. Too many of them in a single post and your message will read like spam, which could alienate social media content consumers, or cause them to tune you out. While theories about the optimal number of tags vary, you're generally safe with one to three per post. Think of viewers of your content as readers: Ultimately, hashtags are a distraction that detracts from the message you're trying to relay. Include them, by all means. But always do so in moderation. Deciphering hashtags is simply a matter of knowing how and when to use them. Stay abreast of social site developments and hashtag trends to help your content thrive. For more ideas on how to make your social media content stand out, read Joe Pulizzi's latest book, "Epic Content Marketing: How to Tell a Different Story, Break through the Clutter, & Win More Customers by Marketing Less."

Inbound Marketing Tips: Twitter 101, How to Use Hashtags Posted: 22 Dec 2013 05:15 AM PST Twitter is everywhere. Look on the news, you see the anchor's name followed by their Twitter handle. Same on shows like American Idol and The X-Factor. Twitter is a huge driving force. You know this. But have you noticed another increasingly growing trend over the past year? Hashtags! Wait, what's a hashtag? A hashtag is a word or phrase (without spaces) preceded by the # symbol to allow for quick searching on social networks. They work a lot like tags do on blogs. They allow similar conversations and messages to be grouped together Twitter introduced hashtags in 2009 after users were using them in an official capacity (like the @ symbol, most of the earliest Twitter features were introduced based on how people used Twitter). Nowhashtags are everywhere. They are on billboards, conventions, TV shows, kittens,uh… Just ask The Doctor… So how do you utilize hashtags? Twitter has an article about using hashtags, and that's a great place to start. How about searching #inbound on Twitter? At the top you'll see relevant accounts, like @HubSpot and other industry leaders, and then you will see a stream of tweets relating to inbound and inbound marketing. Hashtags make following and participating in conversations and topics that you care about easier. What about for events? Take a look at the results for #Inbound2013, HubSpot's hashtag for their Inbound event this past summer. People are still using the hashtag months later! If you scroll down a bit you can see tweets that were posted during the event and see people's reactions during the talks, keynotes and parties. If you weren't at Inbound, you could have watched the live feed of the hashtag scroll by in real time by saving the search. The real time stream is the true beauty of hashtags. As a consumer you can use them to keep up with topics, shows, brands that you like in real time. Almost every show on television now wants users to interact with them online, and instead of just mentioning them on Twitter, shows will sometimes put a unique hashtag in the corner of the screen during the show. Sometimes it's the episode title, other times it's specific to the segment. As a marketer you can use them to monitor campaigns and conversations about your brand. Quick hashtag tips: Don't use more than two hashtags per post Make sure they are unique and mean something to your company or brand Keep them short and sweet Watch how they are used (or not used) Set realistic goals and expectations Of course the number one rule of hashtags is don't be that guy. You know – these guys.

Leveraging Backlinks and SEO Effectively Posted: 21 Dec 2013 02:52 PM PST Everyone is constantly concerned about search engine optimization (SEO) and making sure that the most effective backlinks are being used and that they function properly and lead back to the right place. The mysteries of SEO Interestingly enough, many professional people believe that they understand completely what they have to do in order to get the content noticed by the search engines. The funny thing about SEO is that the content that is accepted as top quality and high ranking one time may not be viewed the same exact way by the search engines the next time. The challenge here is that why this is the case is rather mysterious and nobody seems to have an easy answer as to why it happens that way. There are many different approaches that you can take in order to successfully wrap your mind around what to do in order to achieve the rankings that you want to achieve, including looking at what you have and figuring out what works and why it works. If you can do that, you can replicate it over and over again and it will prove to be a formula that you can use over and over again with wildly successful results. In addition to all of the other information that you believe to be true, you are most likely holding onto notions that are not true and the funny thing is that you may not realize it at all. Every backlink that you use should connect with your content that surrounds it: If one of your pages becomes viral, it will be shared widely, among different types of content and among many different groups of people. With that in mind, it is important to realize that your backlinks, in turn, will appear on a wide variety of websites. You should bear in mind that many of those websites will not be relevant whatsoever to your website or any of the content that you are sharing, not to mention any of your branding. Remember that that is not necessarily a bad thing. Of course, it is very important to realize that there is, at times, a fine line that must not be crossed when it comes to what is appropriate and what is inappropriate to share. You must find at least some small noti0n of appropriateness and some connection between the website and your link. It is never, ever acceptable for your content or your links to be perceived as spam. There has to be some connection. You can use links that originate from all sorts of sites (exercising caution all the while): If you revisit the concept of viral content, you will notice that there are links all over the place. In fact, the links are wherever the content ends up. Once that happens, you won't really have any control over where your content ends up. The one thing that you absolutely can control is the quality of your links. You can ensure that they are good quality and that they lead to where you want them to lead. The links themselves as well as where they lead the person who clicks on them are both extremely important. You don't need to have a set number of backlinks: There is no right or wrong number when it comes to backlinks. It really depends on a lot of different factors. You should definitely have a good amount of high-quality links in your content. It is; however, difficult to assign an actual number. One thing that you will want to be careful about is using the same links (and ones that go back to the same site ) over and over again. That will be perceived as spam and you definitely don't want that. Another thing to watch for is if you are the only person who is actually supplying links. That is another way to be perceived and spam. You need to supply links that you are reasonably sure other people will want to click on. Sometimes, you need to ignore what everyone else is saying and go with your instincts. If something feels right to you, do it. Conclusion Successful SEO, backlinks, and content are very far from black and white. Figuring out what works and what doesn't work is far from an exact science. You will learn a great deal through trial and error and you may have failures before you have successes. However, remember that you will succeed eventually and you and your business will be better for it. Whatever you do, make sure that your links help your cause instead of hurting it. There are many different ways to achieve successful link building, such as submitting content to web directories, content creation, asking for what you want, and submitting news releases. There are many more on top of those but those are some to start with. Accomplishing success is right around the corner. You have the tools. Now, all you have to do is use them. We are pleased to provide you with the insightful comments contained herein. For a complimentary assessment of your online presence, let’s have coffee .

SEO Simplified For Today’s Business Leader Posted: 21 Dec 2013 02:30 PM PST SEO in the Past Take everything you have ever heard about SEO and chuck it! Well maybe you don't have to go that far, but here is the thing. If you are looking to build a site that Google Loves and has you showing up on the first page every time, then maybe it is time for you to realize the rules have changed a little bit. In the past search was impacted by one thing more than anything else. Link Building. It was Link Building efforts that kept SEO and PPC marketers focused because it was the quantity and more importantly the quality of links that was going to drive page rank up and therefore position in a Google Search. After Link Building, SEO was heavily focused on formatting. SEO Experts would turn their attention to using the keywords in the right header tags (H2, H3 ) and then splattering the keywords throughout the content and using italics, Bold and underline to further improve search rank. Link Building is still very important, but some other factors have become immensely important and B2B Marketers need to take notice. SEO Today: Quality Content, Socially Authoritative One of the first questions clients always ask is about SEO. How do we drive SEO to be found on Google. While the traditional SEO items I mention above are important, I usually take clients down a different route. This route covers two areas. Their content strategy and marketing efforts as well as their Social Media, Curating and Sharing strategy. SEO and the Role of Content First question, do you have a blog and do you keep up to date with quality content driven to answer your prospective clients most important questions about the solutions you offer? If they say no, then I know we are starting at zero. Even the most optimized B2B site if just a static products and services website will have a hard time growing and sustaining traffic. Wondering just how important content is? Check out this Searchmetrics visual aid showing the content factors driving search. In short, to improve in almost all of these areas you need more high quality content. SEO and the Role of Social Media Signals The second question I ask is, how does your organization use social media? Are you consistently sharing the content you are (or aren't) creating across the platforms? Do you curate and share other useful content to build trust and relationships with potential clients interested in similar subject matter? Is your brand engaged and having conversations with readers in your target audience? The purpose of this question is to basically find out one thing… Is the brand Social and do they have an engaged community of any sort that shares content. Because here is a less known secret of SEO that most B2B's are failing to realize. Social Sharing is a huge driver of SEO! Looking for proof? Check out this second study from Searchmetrics. Notice anything here? 7 of the top 8 factors driving SEO are Social Sharing related and not traditional SEO drivers whatsoever! Want SEO? Drive Content, Get Social For companies asking the old how do we improve SEO question, the answer is simpler than you may think. The challenge for businesses is that unlike in the past where the building process was more about following steps, grabbing backlinks and properly formatting content, the rules have now changed. If you want better SEO then you need to be creating more content, and driving it through social channels. It really is (or isn't) that simple. Looking to better understand what drives Social Sharing? Check out this great graphic from Marketing Charts. A Version of this post was originally featured on BroadSuite and can be found here.

5 Ways Raving Fans Can Help Increase Your B2B Blog Traffic Posted: 21 Dec 2013 12:58 PM PST B2B marketers who enlist the support of their fans and stakeholders to evangelize their blog can boost traffic, leads and sales. Here’s how to do it. Your B2B company has a successful blog. You're creating remarkable content that your buyer personas love. You've been able to get an increasing number people to discover your blog. The number of email subscribers to your blog is increasing. And those readers are being nurtured toward a sale or have already converted into customers. Congratulations! You're crushing it! But you can't rest on your laurels, and Sales (and Management) are clamoring for more of those big, fat, juicy leads you've been generating. What to do? Turn to your fans. Fall back on your base. Or at least the people who can help evangelize your blog's content. The trick to growing your blog readership with evangelists is to tap into networks of people who are already loving and willing to share your content. Here are 5 ways to get your supporters to switch on your blog’s afterburners and increase the number of readers, leads, sales and fans: Include sharing buttons. This is one of the most important things to include on your blog because of the amplification that comes from your readers' networks. According to a BrightEdge study, websites with Twitter share buttons generate 7x more Twitter mentions than websites without. And don't include a sharing button for every social media network in existence – just include the ones that you know your buyer personas use. Use blog content in your outreach efforts. When you write about other companies or people relevant to your readership, reach out to those who have been mentioned and ask them to share your content. Similarly, when you are responding to a press inquiry, provide links to blog articles you've written to establish credibility and increase the chances that you'll become a resource to that reporter. This also works when answering questions in online forums such as on LinkedIn or Quora. If you have a post that answers the question and moves the discussion along, link to it. Solicit content from thought leaders. Thought leaders understand the value of guest blogging because it can dramatically help increase their exposure and following. If a thought leader is willing to develop content for your blog, they will likely share it with their followers, thus increasing your readership. Email your most engaged readers. Based on digital body language that shows which readers are engaged with your content (email opens, site visitation, social media shares, blog comments, etc.) build an email list for special messages to these fans to thank them for sharing and to encourage more sharing. Leverage your internal resources. Many of your employees, vendors and other "internal" stakeholders have their own social networks. These networks can be used (voluntarily, of course), to extend the reach of your blog. One handy tool for doing this is Gaggle AMP, a platform that lets companies extend their social media reach via employees and partners. Otherwise, you can email your internal network with suggested social media updates (with links) with a request to promote the blog content. How else have you enlisted fans to increase your blog traffic?   photo credit: PolandMFA via photopin cc

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